06/03/2026
Who Are You?
June 2026 Newsletter
by: Rev. Curtis Garland
Who are you? From a cultural, societal, or interpersonal perspective, that can be a difficult
question to answer. The answer varies depending upon who is asking, what the cultural setting is and what your relationship or basis of interaction is. It might be a genealogical answer: “I am the son or daughter of so-and-so.” It may be occupational or familial: “I’m a farmer. I’m a father or mother.” It
just depends, doesn’t it?
But if you think about your identity in relationship with God, the answer should be consistent and
identical for all of you. And it goes beyond “I’m a child of God; I am Jesus’ little lamb; I’m a Christian; or any of those other correct but too simplistic answers.
One of the common responses of evangelical Christianity is “I’m a sinner saved by grace.” It
sounds good. It seems plausible on the surface. It seems humble and even spiritual as it rolls off the
tongue. But when you consider it in relation to reality, both grammatically and spiritually/theologically,
it’s not true as stated. In fact, the second part is true only if the first is past-tense! “I WAS a sinner
saved by grace.” To make it correct, it requires more; it needs a “but now …..”
That “but now…” is provided by Jesus and Baptism. The work of Christ and His command for
the application of the results to you provide your present true identity as a believer, as a Christian. Of course, before Jesus that “sinner” description was absolutely correct. Sin defines humanity. Mankind is by nature sinful, in relationship with God you are sinful and unclean and unable to approach, and your condition as a sinner apart from God is one hopelessly condemned to hell. There is no intrinsic good to be found in one apart from Jesus.
But the finished work of Jesus on the cross changes everything. When He declares “tetelestai”
“It is finished,” it means so much more than just “My work here is done.” The Law has been fulfilled perfectly; the blood sacrifice of the unblemished Lamb of God has fully, completely, all-sufficiently paid the penalty/the price of all mankind’s sin; the power of Satan has been broken/defeated; forgiveness, life, and salvation are made available for ALL who believe. And His resurrection on the third day is the seal on that promise.
It marks a shift. Believers are no longer sinners, they aren’t slightly improved versions of
themselves, they are something different. You are something different. St. Paul spells it out plainly:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor 5:17). “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom
6:4). Listen to what God says through Paul – you are buried and raised through baptism as a new
creation.
You are not brought to faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, your Lord and Savior to remain
what you were before. “
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ! –
21 assuming that you have
heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which
belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true
righteousness and holiness” (Eph 4:20-24).
This is identity language. The cross isn’t just about forgiveness. It’s about new life. It’s about
the performative acts of God through His Word and Sacraments to change you into something you
neither would nor could be on your own. It’s about death and resurrection – yours! Your old Adam,
your old identity as a sinner was crucified with Christ and buried with Him in the tomb. And through His resurrection you are raised into new life, you are a new creation. And all that is yours in Baptism.
That’s why St. Peter can write, “Baptism now saves you” (1 Peter 3:21).
Consequently, the cross and empty tomb, Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Gospel are not
about cleaning up the old you. No, they are about creating, by faith and in Baptism a completely new you. It is the performative act of God creating something entirely new, even as you remain in this world, this life a sinner in relationship to your neighbors, to the world.
This is why Scripture consistently identifies believers as saints, righteous, holy, beloved,
children of God, and new creations. It’s how Luther can declare us “simul Justus et Pecator” – at the
same time saint and sinner. In the eyes of God you are all those things – saints, righteous, holy,
beloved, children of God, new creations – right now. Not someday, not once you’ve done enough, not when you die, rather RIGHT NOW you are a NEW CREATION.
That’s because your identity is not based upon you and your effort but on the work of Jesus on
your behalf. Yes, you will still stumble, you will still experience and, sadly, yield to temptation. Yes,
you will still commit acts of sin, but committing sin is not exactly the same as being a sinner by
identity. A child learning to walk is still going to fall down occasionally, but they don’t stop being a child because of it.
Similarly, when Christians, when believers, fail, God doesn’t then redefine them as a result.
Instead, He calls you back to who you truly are in Christ. He calls you back to His house to deliver the gifts of forgiveness and renewed strength to resist the devil given in His Word and Sacrament. He reinforces your identity as a new creation.
Satan and the world declare that your sin, your failures, your inadequacies are who you are –
you are indeed a self-made individual and that individual is not suitable for heaven and eternal life.
The Gospel reminds you that as a believer, as a Christian, as a child of God, you are not defined, you are not identified by who you are, but by whose you are. Jesus provides your identity in the eyes of God, and it is only in His eyes that your true identity matters for salvation. The Gospel declares that you are not a sinner anymore.
So, if you are not “a sinner saved by grace,” what are you? Well, try this identity on: You are “a
new creation in Christ, a saint saved by the grace of God.” Again, it’s St. Paul for the win: “So you
also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11). Dead to sin!
Alive to God! You are not partially changed, you are not going to be changed at some point later on,
you are not simply spiritually renovated. No, the old you is dead and you are entirely new – reborn,
resurrected in baptism as a new creature. And it is all grace, all a gift from God. The challenge for you and me is to live in that new identity.
Jesus became sin, took on all of yours and mine and everyone else’s so that you could be made
new, made something other than you were. He took your old identity so that you could have His.
That’s what Christmas and Easter are all about. So don’t continue introducing yourself or identifying
yourself as something that is no more.
Don’t spend your days more conscious of Adam than of Jesus. Don’t hang on to labels Jesus
did away with on the cross. Certainly, Jesus’ work isn’t finished until He returns, but His work to give
you a new identity, to make you what you could never make yourself, to enable you to leave the sinner in need of forgiveness behind and live as the saint who has forgiveness is finished – tetelestai! You are not who you once were, you are now who Christ, who God says you are – forgiven, righteous, holy, a new creation. - Pastor
